We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Luecke . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.

Amanda , appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My mom passed away in February of 2016 and I had a 9 month old at the time. Wanting to find a way to stay home with her, I quit my job and started looking for at home job opportunities. In the meantime, to keep myself busy, I started baking but wanted to find something new to try and came across royal iced butterfly cookies online. I thought they were the most beautiful cookies I’d ever seen and wanted to see if I could figure out how to make them myself! For the next few months, I watched countless YouTube videos and practiced making these cookies for friends and family. Eventually, my husband suggested I start selling my cookies and although I thought it was a ridiculous idea at the time, I decided to go for it. My dad helped me get all the necessary paperwork to start up my cottage food business and I officially open Minnie’s Cookies in June of 2016. I decided to name it after my mom whose nickname was Minnie and was the absolute best baker I knew.

I had no idea if anyone would actually want decorated cookies but it was a way I could stay home with my baby and also feed my creative nature! I had no idea what was in store for me!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I spoke a bit about this in the last question as my moms death played a big role for in this but to go off of that, my mom had always been an avid baker. The smell of freshly baked bread and pies coming from the kitchen as I would float to the kitchen, begging for a little nibble. At Christmas time, she would make dozens of different kinds of Christmas cookies and have all of our friends and family come to fill their tins with whatever their hearts desired. She was a true giver, a beautiful soul who showed love by giving to everyone else.

She enrolled me in art programs my whole life and although, I didn’t know it, my love for art and my love for baking would collide into this beautiful cookie decorating business.

The reason I love doing decorated cookies so much is because the sky is the limit for what I can do, it’s just incredible the amount of things you can accomplish with royal icing and it’s allowed me to unleash my creativity in the most wonderful way.

I take extreme pride in my work and making sure every single detail is perfect. I’ve been given the important task of creating beautiful works of art for every kind of event/occasion and I want to make sure that my customers are getting exactly what they want. I have been so lucky that my customers now have the trust in me and my skills to let me create beautiful sets for them, knowing that I’ll put my heart and soul into every single design.

One of the biggest compliments I can receive are repeat customers. Knowing that I’ve had the honor to create cookies for every single birthday, anniversary, special event means so much to me. To have kids get excited to have my cookies each year or to be a part of a couples life story is just amazing.

I never shy away from a challenge, in fact, I encourage it. I liked being pushed beyond what I thought I was capable of. I am constantly striving to learn and grow and become better than I was before.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

A huge part of what has helped build my reputation as a cookie artist is word of mouth. It’s a HUGE way to get word out about your business. When people love your product, they want to share it. Making a quality product consistently and having repeat customers will definitely help build your reputation. From there, posting consistently so others see your work will also help! I also collaborate with other local small businesses and donate a lot of cookies throughout the year.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media is a beast if its own. It’s an ever ebb and flow of ups and downs, but being consistent is key to building a following. Posting consistently and engaging with your followers through posts and stories. I also think it helps when your followers get to see you so they can see that you’re a real person and see little glimpses into your life. I like to show parts of my daily life that doesn’t pertain to cookies. I also like to give tips and tricks when it comes to baking and decorating that people can hopefully learn from! But at the end of the day, if your local sales are strong, it shouldn’t matter the number of followers you have! Just keep at it… the followers will natural come but as long as you’re always improving and keeping busy with your own customers, that’s what matters. And you don’t have to take on as much as the next person. We all have our own personal limits and that’s ok!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.minniescookies.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minniescookies/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MinniesCookies?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@minniescookies